A different choice
by Trapuccino
Summary: What if Charles had not killed Amelia but had forced her to go to Chance Harbor with Cassie instead?- Future Cake!
1. Chapter 1 The news

I was looking outside my window, cookie in hand, when i felt something climbing up my leg.

"Luby stop! I am not gonna give you food" I said a little annoyed. It was the fourth time that my four months kitten was attempting to get a piece of my cookie. I took her off my leg and placed her on the floor knowing that it was only a matter of seconds until I would have her climbing on my leg again, so I put the whole cookie in my mouth and headed to the sofa to turn the TV on.

I must to have been sitting there for twenty minutes when she arrived.

"Cassie?" It was the tone what first made me worry, she sounded scared as if she was afraid I had left and someone else was instead.

"Mom I'm in the couch" I said whit a cautious voice.

She walked fast until her eyes met mine and her fear faded. Something was definitely wrong.

"What's wrong?" When I asked her face changed into a more relax complexion.

"Oh, nothing honey I got scared when I heard noises, I thought you were going to Daniel's house" She said with a faint smile.

"Don't you remember? Daniel's sister is in the hospital and his looking after her" That was wired, we had been talking about it for the last two days.

"Right! Sorry I have been a little off lately".

That's true things had been hard at work and mom was considering moving to another city to try and find a better job.

We were eating in silence that night watching CSI when my mom told me.

"I got a job offer today" She was trying to smile but didn't succeed.

"What? That's great! Where?" She had finally found a job, and she was sad?

"In Chance Harbor" The words came out more like a spit than like a sentence.

"Oh" Was all I could say, now I know way she was so bumped. "Are you going to take it?" I tried to put a little enthusiasm.

"I think so honey, things are not going very well here, I think we should not let this opportunity slip away"

"Okay… when do we have to leave?" I saw that was a question she did not want me to make.

"Next week" When my face changed she added, "I know, I know the dance is in eight day but if we don't go we won't have another chance" she took my hand and smiled an apologetics smile.

We had been looking forward to this dance so much! It was going to be the dance of the fricken year!... Gosh, how was I going to tell my friends that I was moving and before our first dance together? While I was thinking I saw my mom's hand on top of mine and all my complaints went to hell; I knew how much she was blaming herself and, although she had never told me, I knew that she thought herself as a failure, and that was definitely not true she just had bad luck but tried as hard as she could, thus when I looked up I offered her a big smile, "It's okay, I'll talk to the guys and we will go clubbing, the dance was getting a bit lame with all the principle intromissions anyway" She smiled, a little relief in her eyes and we went on trying to discover the murderer.

"Chance Harbor… here we go" I thought a bit sarcastically, this was going to be completely and utterly boring.


	2. Chapter 2 Home with grandma

The drive had been fun; we spent most of the time listening to music and making up new lyrics for the ones we couldn't remember while lubi slept in the back seat.

I could tell mom wasn't happy to go back, so I tried my best to make her smile and pretended to be enthusiastic to go to live with grandma, which was true, although we only met for holidays she was a fantastic person and I was looking forward to spend more time with her.

The problem was Chance Harbor.

A small town with a population of three thousand people. My mom hated that place, and I couldn't blame her. Ever since she was born she had been destined to choose between the boys whom she had grown up with, get married, have children and dedicate her life to the town. Don't get me wrong, it is not like if it was a cult or anything like that; of course people could leave, but the ones who did where then considered strangers, even dangerous (as if they had some sort of plague and it could spread),so we were not exactly thrilled to say the least.

As soon as we got to our new home Jane came out to meet us.

"Hy girls! had a pleasant trip?" Did I imagine the hint of fear in her voice?

"It was ok, we are just happy we finally got here" mom said in a comforting voice. That seemed to calm grandma a little.

"Well, let me help you to get your things inside so we can talk" Jane said while holding me in a hug, she was happy that we were there with her and so was I.

The unpacking was easy. Neither of us had too much clothes or personal things which made the time to put everything in place much shorter. As soon as we finished we went down stairs for a cup of coffee. An awkward silence stood there until Jane broke it,

"So… Tomorrow you will start school?" She asked me.

I could see my mom's eye widen with reproach and grandma said,

"Well, do you have a better topic Amelia?" She was the kind who speak up, with not too much "Bullshit" toleration, just like mom and I.

Mom stood quiet giving her the reason.

"Yeah, I hope the teachers are good." I said with not too much conviction, and added playfully "I heard that the new English one is a bitch" while winking to Jane who laughed out loud when I hugged mom and smiled.

"You will have plenty of time to make jokes while writing the one-thousand words essay about pride and prejudice" she told me with an evil smile on her face.

"See what I mean?" I told Jane with fake horror.

We all laughed and chat a little more when Jane suddenly said,

"I´m happy you are here, I have really missed you both" The honesty in her words was so overwhelming that mom's face got full of emotions, she hugged her for a long time and then they both pulled me into a big hug. Despite everything she had missed grandma and was pleased to be now with her.

I didn't know about school, but things were looking good at home.


	3. Chapter 3 The nightmare

The man was standing in front of the house. He searched until he found her in the kitchen.

His mouth turned into a devious grin.

Such was his excitement that he almost forgot about the girl tied up next to him. The man picked her up and looked into her eyes.

She was very, very much afraid.

"Come on Cassie" he said with enjoyment, "you don't want to miss this".

Cassie looked at the man with terror, she couldn't remember how she had got there, all she knew was that she was terrified. He raised his hand and her gaze followed it.

What she saw left her petrified.

Without hesitating the men took a match and lighted it up.

The kitchen burst into flames and so did Amelia. Cassie fought and tried to scream but it was useless, no shouts came out of her mouth and no one could help her. She stood there, unable to move as she watched how her mother burned to death.

I opened my eyes and cried as the dream was still with me. Slowly I came back to reality and I felt relief running trough me.

It was just a dream. A very horrible and traumatizing dream, but a dream nonetheless.

I looked at the clock- 3:24 a.m- I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep so I got up the bed and went downstairs for a glass of water. The house was dark and silent. When I reached to the kitchen I looked out the window, it was a beautiful night, the moon was bright so I could see the whole yard without problems. I opened the door and stepped outside unable to resist.

I love watching the stars.

The temperature was nice so I laid on the grass at ease. The nightmare was fading away.

Not two minutes must have passed when I heard a voice.

"Couldn't sleep either?" I got up so fast that I got a little dizzy.

"Hello?" I asked both confused and a bit scared at the same time.

"Here" I heard an amused voice coming from the back of the yard.

I thought what I was doing and what I should do. I was talking to a voice in the middle of the backyard at half past three in the morning. As far as I knew it could be a rapist or any other kind of creep. But despite all the obvious reasons for me to leave, I found myself walking towards the voice, I had never heard it before but I felt as I already knew it.

My head was working so fast trying to figure out to whom the voice belonged to that I didn't realize that there was no one in the garden.

I stood there for two seconds when I heard "Here"

I turned and first saw nothing, but then I looked behind the fence and saw a tall blond guy with a smile on his face.

"Hi there, neighbor" he said, the smile got playful and sweet at the same time.

I can't really explain what happened to me, I've never been the kind of people who feel strongly, sure I get happy and sad and all, but I've never been passionate about anything nor I fell in love at first sight. And yet, I can't explain what happened when I saw him, but I just went with it.

"Hi there" I said feeling extrangely relaxed. It felt really easy. But I had to be realistic, I didn't know him and I shouldn't be talking to strangers in the middle of the night. So I added, "Mmm, who are you?"

He laugh and said "Jake Armstrong new your neighbor".

I really didn't know who my new neighbors were so I said the first thing that came to my mind, "Well, I don't really know you. As far as I know you could have been stealing and I caught you" and I felt completely stupid, I mean, what the hell was that?

Fortunately he found my theory amusing and said in a voice as if he was telling a secret, "You are Cassie Blake, you lived here until you were two years old and are allergic to chocolate, it makes you sneeze twice". My eyes opened in shock as he said this. Only my mom knew that I sneeze with chocolate. He was on the other hand quite pleased with himself for had caused my bewildered expression.

"How did you know about the chocolate?" My face showing confusion.

"When we were little you once sneezed a slice of brownie on my face, and then laughed" He was having a good time with this that's for sure.

Suddenly I remembered, we used to be pretty close until I moved away.

"I remember" I said almost laughing, "you must have been seriously traumatized" I said joking.

"I haven't been able to eat a brownie ever since" he made a fake expression of regret.

He was about to tell me something when we saw the light in my mom's bedroom.

"I have to go" I said as I walk away and stopped, "see you around?" I could feel the hope in my voice.

"Sure" he said with a big smile, "see you".

I went inside and into my bedroom. The nightmare was gone.


	4. Chapter 4 Diana

With the alarm clock ringing I woke up. It was not long before the memories hit me. The nightmare and Jake. The horrible dream soon fade away and all that was left was him. I felt myself blush when I remembered our conversation last night, it had been strange because it had been so familiar, as if we had known each other for a long time…

Snap out of it Cassie! I told to myself. I knew that I probably shouldn't get my hopes up.

Lubi woke up and claimed for my attention. The cat started to purr as I pet her, Instantly calm run trough me and all my mood went up. She always had that effect on me. A noise downstairs brought me back to reality.

Today was my first day at the new school.

I lay Lubi in my bed and walked to the closet and started to try different clothes on. I didn't want to be seen as the new stranger so I my outfit had to be simple yet pretty. I had gone through three pairs of jeans, two skirts and seven shirts when I looked at the clock and saw I had been trying clothes for forty minutes. Thank god I had had the good sense of setting the alarm so I could have a lot of time to get ready. I knew myself.

I stood there looking at my wardrobe and then at Lubi. We stared at each other for a while when I decided I should do what I knew I would do. I put on a my favorite jean which looked good on my and was comfortable to use, some flats and a simple floral shirt, also a light jacket in case I got cold which I doubted since the day was already quite warm.

Downstairs my mom was waiting for me with a bowl of cereal and some juice.

She saw me and smiled, "Morning".

"Morning, is grandma sleeping yet?" She wasn't in the kitchen and I heard no other noises in the house.

Mom's face went dark when I said this but rapidly changed into a more animated state, "Yes, I think she got tired with the moving since she is not used to do heavy lifting" she smiled while she had said this but I knew better. She was hiding something. I didn't push because I knew that if she wasn't telling me it was because it was better that way. So I let it go, for now.

"Did you sleep well?" She must had seen that I was a little jumpy.

"Not really, I guess I'm a little nervous" I confessed.

"Don't worry honey, everything is gonna be alright" she kissed me and went upstairs.

The drive had been fast and we were soon in the parking lot, my mom wished me good luck, I smiled at her and got out of the car.

At home I thought that everyone was going to stare at me but then I realize how selfish that thought was, I mean they have better things to do than look at the new girl.

I was wrong, people was staring. And it wasn't subtle, Shit! I did my best to ignore them and kept my chin up while looking for my classroom. Unfortunately, and this could have only happened to me, I was trying so hard to ignored them that I ignored the floor and tripped.

G-r-e-a-t! I said to myself, if somebody hadn't been staring they surely were now.

I started to pick up my books when I saw someone kneeling down next to me and helping me collect my books.

"You ok?" She said when she handed me the rest of my things. She seemed nice.

"Yeah, thanks" I offered a small smile.

"I'm Diana"

"Cassie"

She smiled seeming pleased with something.

"You are Jane's granddaughter right?" I'm sure she knew it but I followed along.

"Yes, I just moved here" If it wasn't obvious enough.

"Yeah I know" I looked at her a bit confused so she explained, "Sorry, I mean it's a small town and people talk" she said like apologizing, "they are not subtle, are they?" she pointed to the people staring who seemed to realize what they were doing and looked away, ashamed.

"No, they are not"

"So what's your first class?"

"Maths, because being new and falling in front of everybody just wasn't bad enough"

She laughed. "Yeah, this town tends to do that" and suddenly her mood changed and she got lost in thoughts for a second before she shook her head and said, "So, you know how to get to class?"

"Yes, I think I have to go upstairs and…" I stopped while thinking "second door to the right?" I wasn't really sure.

"Actually is third door…"

"Ah, ok"

"To the left at that corridor" a small gentle smile appeared at her face.

"AHH ok, NOW I got it" I said while laughing, thank god she was there, otherwise I would have spent the entire morning running through the building.

We were both laughing when the bell rang.

"I should go. It was nice to meet you"

"Same here… I guess I'll see you later" Did she sound hopeful just to me?

"Sure, see you"

Math's class was surprisingly enjoyable. The professor explained well so I had no problems in understanding anything. Unfortunately all my class mates didn't appear to share my interest in the professor's explanation, as they glanced at me everytime they could. It was the same in all the classes but I tried my best to focus on the class, after all if I missed something chances were high I wouldn't be able to keep on with it.

As soon as the bell rang I got the hell out of the room; it was lunch time and I really didn't feel like sitting in a table to eat alone while three hundred teenagers were staring at me, so I headed outside and to a vending machine. I was about to put the money when I heard someone calling my name; I turned around and saw Diana running to me.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Did you hear it?" she asked breathlessly, when I say no she explained, "They are calling classes off, I don't know what happened but we can go home while the teachers stay here".

"Oh, well… thanks I guess I'll walk home then" it wasn't really something that I wanted to do but if I wasn't going to stay there until mom could leave.

"Do you want to come with us? We are going to the boat house to eat, do you want to join us?" I instantly shuddered at the thought of hanging out with completely strangers and making small talk but she was so excited that I couldn't say no.

"Sure, I'd love to"

Her smile got even bigger and said "Great! Lest go"

We got into her car, and drove over there. I was afraid that the drive was going to be full of awkward silence but I was wrong, somehow we found the way to talk about any silly thing without being awkward, I think we both felt comfortable even if we didn't know why but we just went with it.

After a short drive we parked in front of an actual boat house.

"Wow, I thought it was just the name"

She laugh and we headed to the Boat house.


	5. Chapter 5 Adam

We were just about to reach the door when three people opened it and bumped into us. They immediately started to apologize but then suddenly stopped when they saw me. That was odd, I had never seen them before and yet their eyes widened in shock as if they recognized me.

Diana's words distracted them, "Guys! What are you doing?" Clearly she knew them.

"Hey Di, sorry we didn't see you" said the boy, he was all jumpy and nervous.

"That's ok, but what are you doing? Why are you in such a hurry?" She sounded a bit annoyed at first but her tone changed and I could tell she was worried.

"Who is your knew friend?" said one of the girls with a wide smile and staring at me.

"Oh, this is Cassie, Cassie this are the guys I was telling you about"

"Nice to meet you guys" I said trying to sound friendly. The girl who had spoken before hadn't stopped staring at me and now her smile was even wider, I kept staring at her for a while and she only looked away when Diana spoke again.

"So… what you doing?" Her patience had run out.

I hadn't realized, being staring at the girl who wouldn't look away like I was but now I saw that the three of them were staring.

The other girl faced Diana and said, "We gotta go, nick called something is not right"

Diana's face went pale and then turned to me panic set in her face, "Cassie!" she said and faced them "I brought her here she has no way to go back home"

"It's ok you live at Jane's right? I can take you, I'm going that way anyway" the boy offered.

They both looked at me, I didn't know what was going on but I was happy I wouldn't have to make small talk with strangers so I accepted and thanked him.

The two girls walked away eyes still locked on me; hasn't anyone told them that it was wrong to stare?

Diana snapped me out of my train of thought when she said, "Sorry we have to go so fast without even eating first…"

"Wait I'll be right back" the guy said and we watched him go.

"It's fine Diana really, we can do it any other time" I said with a reassuring smile.

She smiled and her phone rang, she read the text and told me "Sorry, I have to go, Adam will take you home… I am really sorry, again I'll see you tomorrow" She hugged me and left running.

I stood there and my mind started to wonder, what could have happened for them to take off so fast? If they were trying to blow me off that would have been too obvious; but still, they were scared, I could see that…

"Cassie" I heard and I came back to reality, a pair of big eyes were watching me closely, Adam's, his face was inches from mine and I instantly stepped back not too comfortable with the closeness. "Are you ok? You seem a little lost" he said worried, and I felt a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, sorry" I said and I felt myself blushing, I hate that, "I got a little lost in thought nothing more" Way to make a good first impression, he must think I am a nut job.

But instead he laughed "Happens to all of us" and he handed me a paper bag. I didn't need to open it to know what it was inside, fries. I love fries.

"You shouldn't have" I said while I put four in my mouth and he laughed again, "how much do I owe you?" I said mouth half full.

"Nothing, it's on the house, it's the least I can do"

Wait, he owned this place? "Wait, you own this place?" I said incredulously.

"My dad does, didn't Diana tell you?"

"He didn't tell much about you to be honest, I just know you are her friend" we walked to his car and hopped in.

"Ok, well I am her boyfriend" and he suddenly remembered something "and my name is Adam"

"She told me your name" I said laughing, "but not the boyfriend part", "How long have you been together?"

"Two years" he said innocently.

"Wow! That's great! And what can you tell me about the girls that were with you?"

"They are Melissa and Faye, Faye was the one who was staring at you and smiling and Melissa was the one who was staring at you without smiling" Well… at least it wasn't in my head.

"Right, why were they doing that?" I skip the part that he had also been staring.

"It's a small town, people have been talking about you" his tone was humorous but his eyes were serious. It was official, mom and I were the plague and we were going to corrupt all the good and saints in this town.

"Great"

"Sorry we had to go, our friend Nick has an aunt that is very sick and she just got worse" he explained "She is the closest thing to a mom he ever had"

No wonder they were so worried.

"It's ok Adam, you don't have to explain to me"

"Still, I thought you should know"

There was a silent in between us but I didn't mind, there was nothing left to say, I focused on watching where we were going since this was a different path from the one I knew; couldn't hurt getting to know the place where I was going to live.

I saw that we parked at my house so I turned to say goodbye only to discover adams eyes close to me, really close. I stood there unable to move and completely confused, what was he doing? His eyes were still on mine but the next thing I know are his lips touching mines. "What the h…!" I said as I backed away and looked at him with shock.

"Sorry" was all he said before I got the hell out of there.

I entered my new house and threw my things at the sofa. What the hell had just happened?! He kissed me and didn't even tried to hide it! _Sorry! I was just trying to pick something from the seat; I wasn't trying to kiss you on the fricken lips. _He just said sorry, he knew exactly what he was doing and how bad that was_._ What was his problem? He didn't even know me for Christ sake!

Should I tell Diana? Her boyfriend had just kissed me, and she deserved to know that, I should tell her, right?

Absolutely no.

Sure her high school sweetheart had just cheated on her and she deserved to know; but I had to be realistic, I didn't know her and she could easily blame me. Moreover, I was the NEW, the plague, the girl from the big city who just loved to steal people's boyfriends. I wasn't going to tell her, at least not yet.

I kept going through the moment for a while wondering, did I do something wrong? Had I given the wrong impression? But I hadn't done anything wrong, he had.

I heard a noise outside so I peeked out the window.

Adam was talking to a blonde guy, I guess that was Nick, they both were really upset and they were arguing but I couldn't hear about what, then somebody joined them and I felt butterflies fill my stomach.

Jake

He said something and both guys watched him with comprehension. They talked a bit more and then the three of them got into Adam's car and drove away.

**Diana's POV**

I got to the car and looked through the mirror; Cassie was standing alone in the parking lot. God, I hated leaving her so fast. Sure, Adam would take her to her house and they would talk, maybe he would make something up to explain way we left her, but still.. I felt horrible. My phone rang again and I read Melissa's text saying that they had arrived to the abandoned house, where we practiced magic. I watched Cassie one more time and started driving; I had to be with the girls and if everything worked out fine Cassie would soon be one of them, one of us. That gave me comfort.

I drove through the city until I reached the dirt road and I took it. It wasn't an actual Dirt Road but a path in the grass made by cars as they drove by and it was conveniently surrounded by trees, that way no one could see us entering without having to expose themselves.

I followed the road and in a matter of seconds I could see the house and next to it Faye's car. I pulled over and called them, they were talking to each other lying to a side of the car.

"Girls!"

They both jumped and stared at me with fear.

"Jesus Diana you almost scared us to death!" Faye shouted.

"Sorry, I thought you had heard me coming" my car was pretty loud.

"We were doing the scan spell, the one to know if there was somebody inside there" Melissa explained to me.

"That's what happened? Somebody broke in?" I asked mad, "Girls, this is an abandoned house! People like to break into this things that's why the spell that we casted" That was a disadvantage on this place, although it was isolated most people knew that there was an abandoned house here and sometimes they got close, but nothing that we couldn't handle.

"I know that is why we tried the scan spell, you know to see if there was someone still there, but nothing happened"

That was estrange, it was an easy spell. I asked them to tell me what they had done and it was perfectly normal.

"Lets try it again" I suggested, if it didn't work…

We hold hands and chanted, _reveal by a song what is odd between what is old _three times and nothing happened, not the buzzing in our hears alarming us about the presence of someone, nor the warm sensation in our hands telling us everything was fine.

"That's a problem" I sighed.

"No shit" said an annoyed Faye.

"I'm gonna tell Jake" I announced. To this Faye's attention spiked as it always does when it comes about Jake. They dated for a few months until he put an end to it and she was still waiting for him to come around; she was the only who thought he would as we all knew he cared about her but as friend, just as he cared about all of us.

I took out my phone and started tipping, _Something is wrong, we did the spell but nothing happened. _

"We should go inside and see what's up" Faye told us.

"Don't be stupid. It could be a burglar mad about getting caught" Melissa reproved.

"Come on, we have been outside for ten minutes and talking, if there were someone inside they would surely know that we are here by now" She explained and I had to admit that she was right.

"Besides we are witches! We should go inside, kick his sorry ass and wipe his memory so he won't tell we are witches"

"Great idea" Melissa said sarcastically.

"Yeah, how do you plan to kick someone's ass?"

" And if there were even a spell of that kind we would surely end up with our brains fried" She added.

"Whatever" Faye said annoyed.

I got a text and read it. "Jake says he is coming with the guys"

"You are in luck Faye"

"Shut up" She tried to be angry but didn't make it and a little smile picked out, so she pushed Melissa. They started laughing and then we heard a car coming. As soon as they got out Jake asked,

"Are you ok?" concern was written all over his face and I felt myself melt; not because I liked him, I mean I loved him but like a brother, and how couldn't I? He wasn't part of our circle because he was older but he was the first to find out about magic and he didn't freak out about it, not like us. When we discovered it he helped us to understand and taught us everything he had learnt. Jake was always there for us either for magic or to just talk. Right now for example, the first thing he did was checking that were ok, it was easy to love him; he could make any girl really happy. And a little part of me noted the difference between Jake and Adam, Adam didn't try to make me happy the way Jake tried even when he was just my friend and that brought me a little bit down.

"Yeah" I answered "Just want to know what is happening"

"I think I know, but lets try again just to be safe" Jake said.

So we hold hands. I tried to get next to Adam but he avoided me and went with Melissa and Nick, that's odd. We did the chant but nothing happened. Again.

"What's wrong Jake?" Faye asked.

"Somebody broke in and broke the spell"

We stood silent. "How can that be?" Adam finally asked.

"Someone with magic broke the spell. It was someone with experience, it's not something amateurs would do" He explained.

"But no one besides us has magic, except Cassie" Melissa said wandering.

"It couldn't have been Cassie" I said firmly, I knew it couldn't be her "I'm sure her mom kept it from her like our parents did with us"

"But we can't know for sure, maybe she knows, maybe her mom took her away so she could teach her" Faye's tone was malicious.

"I don't think so Faye" Adam said, "She just doesn't seem like that kind of girl"

"And you know this because of the ten minutes that you spent with her? Right, you are into her that's what is happening" Faye accused him.

"Yes in the ten minutes like you say that I spent with her I fell completely for her and we planned this "conspiracy" " he said bitterly.

"Ok that's enough" Jake tried to calm them "It's a possibility but I don't think she did it, it had to be someone that knows you guys, you were the ones who casted the spell and to break it, it had to be someone who has an emotional connection with one of you".

"Who could that be?" I said and then thought "Why would they break in?"

"Well someone with knowledge of magic and an emotional connection with you would be your parents and grandparents, but I have no idea why they would do…" he stopped and then his eyes opened in alert, "Where is your book of shadows?" he asked me.

"It's… inside the house! Shit" But how could anyone know where it was? I had hidden it.

"We have to see if someone took it" Faye said.

And reluctantly we entered to the abandoned house.


	6. Chapter 6 New information

**Okay, this chapter is not very good but I wrote six variations of it and this was the one I liked the most. Please tell me what you think, I think is getting a bit heavy and boring.. or maybe it's just in my head, I don't know. Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

Cassie's POV

Both grandma and mom would be out for a couple of hours so I started on my homework to keep me busy. I took my English book and searched for the page with the assignment. "212 Write an essay comparing the main ideologies in the book" it wasn't my favorite kind of work, but it was one I could do well.

Lubi sat next to me and purred loudly when I scratched her ears. I picked her up and went upstairs to my laptop, luckly the professor gave as a requirement for the essay to be written on a computer, otherwise it would take me forever. I sat on my new chair and with Lubi on my lap I turned the computer on. I first checked the e-mails and Facebook and saw thirty six notifications and twelve e mails, all from my friends. I couldn't wait to talk to them especially about Adam, I missed them so much, but I had to do the essay first or I would never do it.

Forty minutes had passed and I had already finished analyzing the first point when someone knocked the door. I put Lubi down and went downstairs. When I opened the door I saw Jake along with Diana, Adam, the guys from the boat house and a blond kid which I assumed was Jake's brother although I didn't know his name, Jane had told me but I forgot.

"Hi guys" I said confused, what were they doing here? I didn't think Adam would tell Diana about what had happened… But what if he did? What if it was some kind of creepy little town test? No, wait, that can't be right. My mom would have never brought me here if she had known about something like that, and Jane would have warned her; she knew everything that happened in Chance Harbor. Plus, Jake was there. "So what?" a voice inside my head asked, I didn't know why, but I trusted him.

"We need you to come with us" Diana said bluntly, the rest of the guys just stared at me, and I avoided Adams eyes, it reminded me of how close we had been. "Why?"

"I know it's odd but we can explain once we get there" Faye said impatiently, I saw past them and their car had all the doors open, like if they had got out of it and didn't even bother to close them.

"I'm sorry guys but I don't really know you, I'm not gonna go with you just like that" I crossed my arms and they all started to get jumpy.

"Let us show you something and then you will decide, ok?" Jake stepped closer the only one who seemed calm, his blue eyes made me feel at ease.

"Ok" it came out more like a whisper than like a word, and they all stumped inside except Jake who thanked me. "Please come in" I said sarcastically while I closed the door.

I turned around and Faye and Melissa came closer looking awkward. "Just, look at the lamp" Faye explained still impatient and they hold hands. I saw the lamp placed on the table and nothing happened.

"What.."

"Just look!" They both yelled and I heard a loud sound, the lamp had exploded. "What the hell?!" I faced them and they both seemed pleased. "What happened?" How did they know it was going to do that?

"We did it" a petulant smile appeared in Faye's mouth.

"What?" I said a bit shocked and incredulous.

"We can do more than that" she said enthusiastically and faced the fire place, in a few seconds a fire had started.

I looked at them and I didn't understand anything. They thought they had done that, like, with their minds?

"We are witches Cassie" Diana explained with a small smile, "And so are you"

Jesus! They must to be paranoid schizophrenic and they all think they are witches… all six of them? No, that was not possible. And again, Jane would know and would have told, after all I would be going with them to school. They weren't paranoid, so they had to be scammers, trying to see how dumb the new girl was, believing in witches… Who the hell believed in that anyway? If they had said aliens, at least that was a classic, but witches? Come on! Wait, I'm thinking too much.

Jake must have seen my expression, because he said "It's not a trick Cassie I can prove it, come" and he extended his hand. I watched the rest and they were all looking at me, they wanted me to try. I hold his hand and something strange happened, I felt a tickle, it was strange but not bad. I watched our hands and there was nothing out of the ordinary, just our hands together. I lifted my gaze and I saw him smiling.

"That tickle is our magic connected, try to do something" could he be lying too? Either they were ALL lying, or it was all real. Unfortunately, I didn't think that the most reasonable explanation would be that they had magical powers instead of the fact that they were just kids making a prank.

"Like what?" I decided it would be best to follow along for them not to get angry, although I knew the real reason was that I wanted it to be true, for Jake.

"Explode something" Faye suggested.

"Make things change colors" Nick prompt.

"Move a chair, put out the fire, whatever you want" Diana told me excited, like if that was really going to happen.

"I just have to think about that?" I asked him and I felt stupid to even consider the thought.

"Yes" his smile was bigger and I felt the tickle get stronger, but his expression never changed. I faced them all and they were waiting; so I did what they wanted, while feeling like an idiot, trying Jedi mental tricks.

I did what Diana said and focused on the chair. At first nothing happened but then I felt my mind wander, the way it sometimes did and I felt how it would be to move the chair, how it was in its totality and how it felt moving it from the table to the fire place, and to my very surprise, the real chair did just that.

They all started to clap and congratulate me, but I couldn't believe it.

"What the hell?" I whispered. Jake hold my hand tighter and said, "You are a witch Cassie"

"I really am?" reality struck me and I saw that they were right, I moved that chair, or there were cables attached to it? I left Jake's hand and got near the chair, and with their eyes on my back I saw that the chair had nothing. I lifted it and there was nothing under the seat or in the legs.

"Yes, you are a witch, now blow something up!" Faye said with a big smile and couldn't help but to smile in return.

"Not everyone wants to blo.." Adam started saying but I cut him when I made a bottle of water on the table blow up, splattering everyone. Ok, that had to be me.

"That's awesome! You got it so fast Cassie!" Melissa giggled and they all echoed, even me.

"I know it's fun, great and a revelation to you Cassie, but we didn't came here just to tell you that you are a witch" Nick interrupted and I felt how the atmosphere changed. Before it was full of happiness and excitement, now it was dark. Their smiles suddenly faded, so I asked. "What's wrong?"

"There are people who knows what we are and don't like that, they threatened us today" Diana's face was serious.

"Threatened? They corned you or something?" I remembered earlier today when they had to run off. "Why did you leave today?" I asked them all but I was only looking at Diana, she gave me a sad look in return.

"We have a practice spot in the woods, an abandoned house which is protected with a spell; we had to leave because the spell had been broken"

"When we got there we found these" Faye said as she took some old crystal jars out of her bag "These jars were enchanted to kill witches, all there is left is to throw a lighted match in it" she handed me a jar and I saw a blonde hair in it. "So why did they leave them, and didn't kill us?" It didn't make sense.

"They made it to scare us, and it worked" Nick said, his arms crossed.

"The problem is that whoever did this was a witch, and had access to us that's how they got our hair" Diana grabbed the jar I was still holding and took the hair out of it, it was of the same color, length and texture of mine. "Holy shi.." Somebody knew what I was before I did, and had had access to my hair.

"What do we do know?" We, we where We now.

"There is nothing we can do but to wait and see, all we know is that it had to be either our parents or grandparents, otherwise they couldn't had broken the spell" Melissa explained warming her hands in the fire.

"Wait, our parents and grandparents know?" There was no way my mom wouldn't have told me if she had known.

"Yes, they were witches when they were our age, but when new witches were born, they lost most of their powers, we don't know why, but it's always that way" Jake had now an old book in his hands.

"So your parents told you what you were" and mine didn't.

"No, they kept it from us. We found out by accident" Diana reassured me.

"We don't know why, according to the book that is not how it's done, the kids usually grow surrounded by magic" Nick said as he got next to Melissa in the fire.

I was about to ask why again when Faye interrupted me. "We can be like this all day, but for that I need to have food in my mouth, I'm starving! Cassie can we order and eat here?" She had taken her phone out and was waving it around. I hadn't realized how hungry I was, and no wonder given that I had only eaten the fries Adam gave me. "Sure, make yourselves at home" I wasn't fond of being with estrangers, but is not like there was a possibility of small talk, there was so much that I wanted to know, so many things that I had to learn.

Melissa sat in the couch and Nick followed her; they had to be a couple but they never kissed or hold hands, Adam took out his phone and started to listen to music. I sat on the couch whilst Faye ordered burgers and sat on the floor. Diana sat next to me and Jake did the same, he showed me the book I had seen before and they both started to explain everything at high speed while the other guys added things at random.

"Our families did these sort like diaries of what they learned and who they met and spells and stuff" Diana was speaking so fast with excitement that I could barely understand her, one look at Jake and I knew that he was just as lost as I was. I put a hand on her, estrange gesture coming from me, but I ignored myself; after all I had magic and had met other witches so…

She stopped right at that second, "Sorry" she gave me an ashamed look,"I'm kinda nervous, but I'll slow down" she took a deep breath and smiled more confident.

"We can talk about this anytime, why don't we just chat?" Said the guy with the most lovely smile that I've ever seen. STOP THAT! I told myself, this thing with Jake was getting out of hands, I didn't even know him. So for my mental sake, I would get to know him… just to get out of my crush, nothing more. I knew I was lying but I didn't care.

"What do you wanna chat about?" I told him not being entire able to hid my smile. Diana's hand closed on mine and I hold her tighter, it felt right.


	7. Chapter 7 Confession

**Hello again! This that I have written is just some fluff that I had on my mind and that I wrote because I didn't want to do homework. Hope you enjoy!**

Jake was working on his bike. The different components were splattered on the grass and he was extremely concentrated cleaning some kind of metallic cylinder. He was so focused that he didn't hear me until I called his name. He raised his head and a smile appeared on his face.

"Sup Blake?" over the past few days he had gained the habit of calling me by my last name. I didn't mind however, it was more like a playful thing, and sounded great coming from him.

"Diana and I are going to watch a movie, wanna come?"

He frowned and put the piece down, "What movie?"

"Eh.. Prometheus the one with the aliens, why?" I always liked sci fi movies, but the good ones not those in which there is a Super Radioactive shark-octopus.

"Sure, just give me a sec to change" I couldn't help but to notice that the completely common cotton shirt he was wearing looked amazing on him. "Last time I went to the movies with Di we watched Twilight" his words cut my thinking, "I think it was that, something about vampires who shined in the sun" he shook his head. "Not a fan of romantic fluff, ha?" I honestly couldn't imagine him sitting in the cinema while Edward declared his undying love for Bella. "Not really, at least not so fake" he explained. Fake? Sure, it wasn't one of my favorites but I didn't think it was fake.

"What do you mean with fake?"

"Come on, that wasn't love it was more of a possessive thing. With that that they couldn't live without each other or not even two hundred meters apart" We went inside his house.

"Cassie, how good to see you!" a welcoming voice greeted me. "Hi Lara, good to see you too" Jake's aunt pulled me into a big hug which I easily returned while Jake went upstairs to get changed. "How are you doing today?" I said as I pulled apart. "Good, thank god! Want something to eat or drink?" she offered.

"No, that's fine thanks"

"So how is school? I'm sure you must miss your friends back home" Lara sat in one of the kitchen chairs, the Chemotherapy was making her tired; grandma said that she only had a few months left if that even but she was never sad, quite the opposite actually.

"It's ok, I talk to them every day and I'll travel there on holidays" I was really looking forward to winter holidays but we were still on September.

"Travel where?" Jake was coming downstairs with a pair of jeans, a light blue shirt and his black jacket.

"Cassie was just telling me that because she misses her friends she will travel to meet them every holiday" She said smiling. It wasn't exactly how she said it, but I didn't want to correct her.

Jake just looked at me and kissed her aunt. "I'll go to see a movie, Nick is awake he'll take care of you"

"Honey I can perfectly take care of myself! Please tell me you didn't woke him up"

"Of course I did it's four in the afternoon, and the lazy ass has homework to do" he flashed her a big smile.

"Jake!" She tried to appear offended but failed miserably. I hugged her once again and left with Jake.

"You know you never told me about your friends" we were getting in my car ready to meet Diana.

"Oh, well I.. really don't know what I should say" It had always been hard for me to talk to people, cause I never knew what I should say though I usually tried to cover this by either playing def or giving an universal answer "Sure, dunno, whatever" Which ever fitted the situation best. But with Jake it was different I would always speak my mind with him and I didn't know why. I watched him to see how he reacted but he just smiled.

"I mean how they are like, how close you were" I turned on the engine.

"They are great I love them. I met the guys when we were thirteen and I didn't have any friends" he raised an eye brow. "What?" I ask getting defensive, I didn't like to talk about that part of my life, when everybody picked on me because I was extremely shy and lonely.

"Why didn't you have friends?" his voice sounded skeptic.

"Because I was really shy I wouldn't respond when people asked me things or just saluted me, so must students picked on me and I was known like the loner of school"

He stood quiet, waiting for me to continue.

"I met Laura on a video club and we chatted about the movies we liked, then I saw her at school and she was super nice to me and introduced me to her friends, and little by little I began to open up and they all accepted me"

"They sound like great people" he was smiling but it was warmer this time.

"Yes, they are"

"And what do you think about us, honestly?" Was it just me or did he seemed worried.

"You guys are ok, why?"

"I want you to be happy here, you are my friend. But I noticed that when you are in the group you are uncomfortable" His words caught me off guard and I said what I had on my mind.

"Fuck" He looked at me. "What?"

"Shit! I mean.. aggh!" only incoherencies came out of my mouth, but I was sick of keeping this a secret, and we only had a couple of minutes before arriving at the theater.

"He kissed me"

"Who?"

"Adam, when I first met him and he drove me home. I don't know why he did it, we were talking and he told me about your aunt and that he and Diana were sweethearts and when he parked at my house I turned to say goodbye and he just looked at me and kissed me!" I had been holding that for so long that I practically yelled it. I didn't want to see Jake's face so I turned to the highway, hands on the wheel. I felt a pressure on my shoulder and when I looked it was his hand. I met his eyes and a thousand emotions were visible. "He is an idiot, don't worry about that"

"Diana is going to hate me"

"No, she cares about you and this wasn't your fault"

"Then why did he do it?" I was starting to cry, great! I hate crying specially in front of people. I parked at the nearest place to the theater and turned the engine off. I faced Jake and told him what I couldn't tell to anyone but my friends back home. "What am I going to do, and with the circle, how can I face him everyday?" it came out like a whisper and I tried to wipe my tears away but he stopped me. "It's not your fault Cassie, you are a wonderful girl and can't let this jerk ruin your life" He was holding both of my hands and the magic running between us made me feel dizzy. I locked eyes with him and leaned closer. I felt the electricity pass through my whole body so I did the only thing that seemed right at that time and hugged him. Although our hands were no longer touching the electricity was still on me. He hugged me back, his hands traced circles on my back and I said "Thank you" I didn't say why but he got it right away "Any time Blake".

**I really didn't know how to end it, I hope you liked it. Any suggestion for next chap? Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8 The threat

**Hi again! I'm really sorry this is so short and it had taken so long, but as you will see when you read it, I have been having a sort of block and this is the best I could do (I know, it's pitiful). So if you have ideas, suggestions or comments please do not hesitate to tell me. Also tell me what you think about this chapter, if it can be called that.**

Diana was waiting for us on the entrance. She saw us and waved with a smile, and so did us.

"Glad you could make it! How did you manage to get a parking spot?" She asked as she hugged us.

"We got it parked a few blocks away" I answered absently as I saw Adam coming toward us with a worried expression.

"We have to go" was all he said and we all looked at each other with confusion.

"What happened?" Diana got concerned when she realized how serious he was.

"Somebody attacked Melissa" Diana and I stood froze, not being able to process what he had just said.

"Witch hunters?" Jake was on the contrary quite alert and ready for action.

"Is she ok?" I managed to say.

"Yes, but she is scared as hell, she needs us there" and at that there was no question. Jake and Adam left together and Diana and I headed to my car.

Once in the car she told me where we were going and gave me directions, it seemed like an odd place to take Melissa, right in the middle of the woods. When we were a few minutes away I asked her.

"Why is this happening?" After I learned that we were all witches they all taught me simple spells and stories, it seemed harmless.

"I don't know" she was as confused as I was, "First the jars and the wall, now this"

"The wall?" They never told me about any wall. She gave me a quick glance, "It wasn't nice" was all she said.

We parked outside of an old house surrounded by trees. "What is this place?"

"It's where we practice magic, we were going to bring you here once we could get rid of it"

"Rid of what?" I didn't understand anything that she was saying or why she was being so cryptic.

When I looked inside a shiver ran through my spine at the scene in the wall.


	9. Chapter 9 Friends

**Hello! I just wanted to thank you for all the followings and favorites! and also to thank the guest who gave me the idea to make this chapter, so thank you! **

The room was an old wooden one with the white painting cracking and falling in some places. Melissa was sitting in a couch in the middle of the room with one of Faye's arms surrounding her. Jake was in his knees trying to talk to her but her gaze was somewhere far away from the room. The place was dimly illuminated by a single lamp on the ceiling which combined with the horror show on the wall and the sad scene on the couch, made the environment much more terrifying.

_Witches will burn_ was written on the back wall with a horrible red color. The smell that still lingered there told what it had been written with, blood.

"It is a very serious threat what they did according to the book of shadows" Diana whispered to me, her eyes fixed on Melissa who was still unresponsive. I turned to look at her.

"When a witch hunter writes a threat on the practice spot and with the blood of one of the witch's dear living things"

"What do you mean?" and although I didn't want to know, I still asked, "With the blood of what was that written?"

"Faye's dog" she simply stated.

"Jesus!" I could see from the corner of my eye that Nick and Adam were looking at me, but I didn't care. "How is she doing?"

"Bad of course, but she will never show it or will want to talk about it, believe me we've tried"

She let go a long sigh, "I know, and now Melissa" she grabbed my hand and we both moved closer to Melissa. At that moment I thought I saw her lifting her gaze and meeting my eyes, but the movement was so fast that I wasn't sure it had really happened.

"How is she doing?" Diana spoke up.

"I.. don't know. Maybe it's the shock but ever since she got here she hasn't said a word nor has she moved" Jake said while standing up.

"So how do you know it was witch hunters?"

"She was two blocks away from the Boat House when it happened so she found me and told me that a guy took her by surprise and told her…" he hesitated, uncomfortable but Diana gestured for him to continue, so he did "you disgusting witch are going to die, hit her on the head and she passed out. When she woke up she was alone. The pain was visible in the faces of everybody.

Diana grabbed Melissa's hand and softly swiped her thumb over her palm. Now it wasn't an illusion, Melissa turned her head to Diana and her gaze was no longer lost. Everybody frozen, including me.

"Guys?" she said as she quickly moved her head to see us all there. "What happened?"

"Witch hunters attacked you sweetie, remember?" Faye hugged Melissa even tighter.

"Yeah, two blocks from the boat house and there I told Adam, but then… I don't remember anything" she searched, confused for somebody to answer what was going on, but nobody had the slightest idea. "Jees I'm thirsty!" she sounded surprised.

"I'll go to look for water" Diana said about to get up but I stopped her. "I'll go, where is it?" It was silly, but I was afraid that if Diana stopped touching Melissa she would go back on being lost again, I looked at their hands together and Diana understood right away. "Sure, it's on the room downstairs, it's a pump, there are glasses on the sink" she pointed the way and smiled. She smiled to me a lot.

"I'll help you sometimes it gets stocked" Adam said as he stood up. Jake gave me a worried look but I reassured him with a smile. There was no way in hell I would let him make a move again.

We went downstairs and he led the way to the pump. It was strange I thought, why anybody would place a pump inside a house, but yet again it was an old house.

"I'm sorry" he said as I picked up a glass from the small counter.

"What?" He started pumping.

"I'm sorry for what I did the day I met you" His eyes met mine and they were full of shame " I.. I really am" He sounded sincere but I was too mad as to listen.

"Well you should be!" water started to come out of the pump, I closed the space between us when I put the glass under it to fill it. My face was inches from his and when I lifted my gaze I met his eyes once more; they almost had the same intensity they had had before he kissed me. I realized that if none of this had happened I would had found him attractive, but now all I could feel was a slight repulse, " It creeped the hell out of me" I whispered being completely honest. When the glass was full I took two steps back.

"I know, I am sorry!" He tried to reach me but stopped when I took another step away from him out of instinct. "I really don't know what happened, why I did that. I have been digging my brains out trying to figure out what happened but I end up with nothing. I love Diana, I do, and the last thing I want is for you not to feel safe with me, I really want us to be friends" he assured me. "What a lame piece of excuse" I thought with disdain, it was ridiculous that he didn't know what had happened or why he had done it. On the other hand I was sick and tired to feel bad every time I was with him or Diana. The best thing I could do was forgive but not forget.

"Look I'm sick of this, so I'll give you a chance, but make another mistake and it's over" I said with the most threatening voice I had.

"Thank you, I promise nothing will happen again, I want us to be friends nothing more" I gave him a hard stare and extended my hand. "Ok" he grabbed mine and agreed with a small smile "Ok"

We went upstairs and just like Adam and me, things were better with Melissa. She was talking with Faye and Diana whilst Jake and Nick were going through the book of shadows.

"Here it is" I handed her the glass of water which she received with a smile, "Thank you Cassie"

"No problem" I returned the smile.

After that things went easily. We spent most of the time talking about school, spells, even the movie we didn't get to see but that Faye and Melissa had. Nobody wanted to talk about witch hunters. I laughed like I hadn't done it ever since I left my friends, and it felt good being as comfortable as I was but it wasn't perfect however, since I had the nagging feeling that I was being watched but whenever I tried to see something, there was nothing.

I was talking with Diana about the upcoming chemistry test when Melissa's voice made me turn. "The Essay!" her eyes were wide and full of alarm, "Damn it! I haven't written a single word and it's for Monday" It was Saturday. "Shit! I forgot about it too!" Faye said while hitting the floor with the palm of her hand. "Cassie you got a good grade on the last one, could you help us?" Melissa's watched me with puppy eyes and Faye imitated her. "Alright! Alright! Stop doing that!" I tried to sound mad but failed when I started to chuckle. Melissa smiled a huge toothy grin and Faye a more devious one "Thank you Cass!"

"I haven't done too much of it either, why don't we do it and make a sleep over?" Diana said smiling and raising her eyebrow suggestively.

"I like what you said" Faye shouted, "Especially when you said buzz"

" I never said buzz"

"You will" she told her and winked.

We decided to go to my house since nobody would probably be there. My mom had lots of work and she was never home and Jane had so much work in the hospital and the community association that she couldn't even go home to sleep. We said the boys goodbye and got into my car. Adam had to go back to the Boat House and Jake said he and Nick would stay to look for something else in the book. It was estrange since Jake hadn't let go of the book since we got there.

The whole drive we spend it singing songs from the radio and laughing whenever Faye would whistle to guys on the streets. Once we got home we saw the lights were on. "Mom must be home" I said turning the engine off.

"Great! Lets meet mama Cass!" Faye said and we all got out of the car. The door was locked so I ringed the bell. "Mom it's me!" things hitting the floor were heard and then my mom's rushed steps "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" I smiled and the girls started to giggle.

My mom opened the door a second after. She was wearing a pink t-shirt with a pair of jeans and a embellished pair of sandals, she would probably leave again. Her eyes settled first on me and she smiled but when she saw the girls her faced dropped a little; her eyes changed into something I couldn't put my finger on "Fear?" and a single word came from her lips, so low that I must to have been the only one who heard it.

"Shit"


End file.
